North Carolina Economic Development Guide

2013

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Page 13 of 83

Donna Jernigan
From left, Prentis Trickett, Gary Patton, Keith Crisco, Mary Kuhn and Mark Treffnger.
���If the state grows the
talent along with
the infrastructure,
companies will
want to locate here. It
will also be easier for
them to expand here.���
12
Describe the renewed interest in
advanced manufacturing in the state.
What are the benefts of bringing such
operations here?
Trickett: An interest in building in
North Carolina, and in the U.S. in
general, has come about recently. Just
fve years ago, businesses were moving
everything offshore. One of the key
reasons we built our factory here is
because it���s easy to attract talent to
North Carolina because of the quality of
life. We���ve doubled the number of people
we employ in North Carolina over the
past 24 months to about 1,600. There
is also the growing infrastructure, such
as highway development and Charlotte
Douglas International Airport. The
infrastructure allows us to transport our
products both within the U.S. as well as
internationally through one of the deepwater ports. The third thing that brought
us here was the talent pool. We���re affliated
with both N.C. State University and
UNC Charlotte. We also have a tight-knit
relationship with the community colleges,
which helped us develop training materials.
Kuhn: It is more diffcult to establish
an advanced-manufacturing operation, but
its sustainable jobs are a beneft in the long
run. I think North Carolina is headed in
North Carolina Economic Development Guide
the right direction by focusing on education
to make sure the talent is here to start these
types of companies. If we grow the talent
along with the infrastructure, companies
will want to locate here. It will also be easier
for them to expand here.
Crisco: While advanced-manufacturing jobs are more sustainable, they do
require more of an investment. In the past,
the state would invest $500,000 in a
sewing plant that would employ 500
people. Today, the investment for an
advanced-manufacturing plant with the
same amount of jobs is going to be greater.
These jobs offer a higher wage, but they
require more education and skills.
Treffnger: Linamar was attracted to
North Carolina because its customers are
moving here, and they want us to be close
to them. Our largest customer, Caterpillar,
opened a million-square-foot facility in
Winston-Salem. I think it���s key that North
Carolina looks after the top of the business
food chain ��� the manufacturers. Once
they are established, suppliers will follow
and bring more jobs.
What advantages do the universities in
North Carolina offer?
Trickett: We���re an engineering frm,
and N.C. State is one of the top engineer-